Guided Prayer Podcast

Jeff
  • 0.0 (0)
  • CHRISTIANITY

Over 16 weeks, we’ll explore each chapter in Mark.  Starting January 5, we’ll release a guided prayer podcast every Monday morning to help you pray through the chapters.

Episodes

  1. APR 2

    Week 14: Good Friday | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    WEEK 14 – Good Friday For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:  God, You are here now. And I am loved by You.    Now, take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.  Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.   As I read the following passage from Mark, listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today.  At the festival, Pilate used to release for the people a prisoner whom they requested. There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder during the rebellion. The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them as was his custom. Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?” For he knew it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead. Pilate asked them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Again they shouted, “Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them; and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.  From the outside looking in this would all appear to be going horribly wrong. But Jesus had been warning His disciples, He was going to be handed over and He was going to die. And now the crowd that had witnessed His miracles was demanding His crucifixion. But little did they know that those who had schemed and plotted unwittingly participated in God’s ultimate plan of redemption through the sacrifice of His Son. Truly, what had been planned for evil, God intended for good, to bring about the salvation of many. Take a few moments now to reflect on this day. Imagine the sights, the smells, the feeling of the crowd, the confusion, and the chaos. The violence and rage. The isolation and anguish of our Savior. Lord, I am overwhelmed by Your sacrifice. That You would die for me, a sinner. I have no good apart from You. When I reflect on your crucifixion, I am undone. Where would I be without Your love? Where would I be without the cross?   Hear the Word of the LORD:   1 Corinthians 2:6-9 We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,   What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived—God has prepared these things for those who love him.   AMEN.

    8 min
  2. Week 13: Suffering & Submission | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    MAR 29

    Week 13: Suffering & Submission | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    WEEK 13 – Suffering & Submission For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:   God, You are here, now. And I am loved by You.     Now take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.   Not my will, but Yours be done.   As I read the following passage from Mark listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today.  32 Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.” 35 He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” 37 Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? 38 Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.41 Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up; let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”  This passage is an intimate glimpse into the agony of Jesus as He anticipates the cross. Jesus has warned His disciples over and over again of the suffering to come and now the same disciples who witnessed the glory of His transfiguration are witnessing the frailty of His humanity. This was a master class on dependence if they were willing to watch and listen. But every time Jesus left to pray; they fell asleep. Even Peter who moments earlier insisted that he would be with Jesus until the bitter end, no matter what, succumbs to the weakness of his flesh.   No matter how willing the spirit is, the flesh is weaker. They couldn’t do it on their own. Their will power was not strong enough to sustain them.    But Jesus models the sustaining power that comes through surrender to the Father. He brings all of Himself –   His feelings   His desires  is trust   and offers these things to God, fully open and vulnerable before Him, and with no hint of shame in His wrestling with the suffering that awaited Him.  How often, rather than wrestling honestly with God, seeking and surrendering to His will, do we fall asleep?  Let’s pray today and ask that God would wake us up to the truth of what it means to live a surrendered life to Him.   Lord,  Wake me up if I’ve fallen asleep.  I have the power to stay awake because You have given me Your Spirit.   I don’t have to succumb to the weakness of my flesh.  Where Adam and Eve sowed rebellion in a garden and reaped death, Jesus returned to a garden to sow surrender and reap life I surrender to You now. I give You the things that threaten my worship – my worries, cares, distractions, and disordered desires.   Will You replace them with an all-consuming desire for You?  Will You sustain me to live faithfully on mission for You?   Hear the Word of the LORD:  

    8 min
  3. Week 13: Costly Worship | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    MAR 23

    Week 13: Costly Worship | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:   God, You are here, now. And I am loved by You.    Now take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.  You are my light & salvation, whom shall I fear?   As I read the following passage from Mark listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today.   It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2 “Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”  3 While he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head. 4 But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her.  6 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for me. 7 You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”  10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.   Imagine Jesus at the center of a dimly lit room, surrounded by onlookers as a solitary woman approaches Him.   The mood in the room tenses. Does she not know her place? Who does she think she is?    Tears stream down her determined face as she breaks open the bottle with no intention of saving any for herself. A year’s worth of wages poured out.    Fragrance fills the room, and indignation fills the hearts of those who cannot see that her offering is not wasted, it’s worship.    In Mark 14 we again see the disparity between someone who recognizes who they are with and those who don’t. Every gospel has a version of this account. The details vary slightly, but the heart is the same. Extravagant, costly worship.  For a frame of reference, imagine encountering a lion or a bear in the wild. You wouldn’t wonder why the people you’re with are terrified, you’d be terrified too! You’d recognize the reality and the risk of the encounter and respond accordingly.   Just like the appropriate response to seeing a lion or bear in the wild would be fear, the appropriate response to seeing Jesus is worship. This woman’s worship is a waste to those who don’t see Jesus for who He is.   This story should raise questions in our own hearts. Would we be indignant at such a display? Would we question her motives? Would we stay quiet? Would we admire her sacrifice?    Take a moment to reflect on this with the Lord. Open your heart to Him. Ask Him if there’s anything He wants you to know.    Let’s pray.    Lord,  A reasonable response to who You are will look unreasonable to those who don’t know You, who don’t recognize You.  Costly worship looks wasteful.  And at times I have wanted to explain away

    9 min
  4. Week 11: Love God, Love People | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    MAR 16

    Week 11: Love God, Love People | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    WEEK 11 – Love God, Love People For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:    God, You are here, now. And I am loved by You.     Now take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.   Come, Holy Spirit.    As I read the following passage from Mark listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today.   28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”  29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”  32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him.33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.   After Jesus cleanses the temple, the religious leaders have been looking for a way to trap Jesus in His words, posing questions that are intended to expose Him. But this scribe notices something about Jesus, that He answers the others well, and he decides to ask Him a real question.    What is the greatest commandment?   And Jesus recites the words that would have been in the hearts and minds of all Jewish people for centuries.   Hear, O Isreal – LISTEN. Listen.    There is One God. He is our God.   Love Him. Love Him with your whole heart – all of your affections, all your devotion.   Love Him with all your soul – your life…your breath.   Love Him with all your mind – your understanding – filter everything through the lens of who He is.   Love Him with all your strength – All your capacities, your resources, your gifts and abilities surrendered in service to Him.   And love your neighbor as yourself. You are not above another in dignity, and you are not beneath. All image bearers are loved by God and when we love God, we begin to love what He loves.   When we try to obey this command on our own, we will always come up short.  But God wants this more than any offering or sacrifice we could ever bring.   But here’s the heart-lifting, hope-inspiring truth for us to rest in. For those who have placed their faith in Jesus, the Spirit of God, the Spirit who lives in us and who will never leave us, enables us to obey, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love our neighbor as ourselves.    Let’s pray in response to this truth and open our lives up to the work of the Spirit today.     Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,    You have not left us alone.    There is a deposit of Your love that has made its home in us.    You’ve replaced our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. Hearts that can hear, hearts that can obey.    We are filled with Your Spirit. Will You fill us

    9 min

  5. MAR 8

    Week 10: The True Vine | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:    God, You are here, now. And I am loved by You.     Now take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.   Jesus, You are the true vine.    As I read the following passage from Mark listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today.  12 The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples heard it.  15 They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. 17 He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!”   18 The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.   While the Gospel of Mark might feel disjointed at first glance, the author has been intentionally weaving events together.  And for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, each miracle of Jesus is a living parable.  The cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple are no different. Jesus declares that the temple has been turned into a “den of thieves” rather than a “house of prayer”. There is no fruit where there should be. Jesus casts out those buying and selling for dishonest gain. This is the same word used elsewhere when talking about casting out demons. He identifies what does not belong and has the authority to tell it to leave with force.    Now consider this… if we are the temple of the Holy Spirit is there anything that is occupying your heart or mind that Jesus wants to drive out? That doesn’t belong there? If someone saw your life, your inner thoughts, the meditation of your heart, would they say that it’s a place dedicated to communion with God or to worry, wealth, or the desire for other things?    We can’t force fruit. And we can’t fake it. Jesus sees past the leaves that make us appear fruitful, to the root, to the heart. And He wants to take back the space that is rightfully His so that our lives would bear much fruit.     Let’s pray.     God,     You said that Your house would be called a house of prayer for all nations.     Where You dwell is the place where heaven and earth meet.     Where You dwell is the place that brings flourishing and life to me and to others.     There is no one like You.     You dwell in me and my desire is that my life would bear much fruit.     I turn my life over to You. Will you prune me? Will You remove the things that don’t belong?     Confront my preferences, my idols, my worries, my fears, my guilt and shame.    Remove anything that keeps me from receiving life from You.     Anything that inhibits Your life from flowing through me.     Hear the Word of the Lord: &

    9 min
  6. Week 9: I believe. Help my unbelief | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    MAR 1

    Week 9: I believe. Help my unbelief | Pray Through the Gospel of Mark

    WEEK 9 – I believe. Help my unbelief.   For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us and for us to share our hearts with Him. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:   God, You are here, now. And I am loved by You.    Now take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.  Jesus, You are my King.    As I read the following passage from Mark listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today. 30 Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it. 31 For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.   33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” 36 He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”  What a contrast. Jesus is telling His disciples that He is going to die and rise three days later. And the disciples are arguing about who is greatest among them.   They were afraid to ask Him what He meant by dying and rising even when they didn’t understand. They didn’t want to know what He meant.    And when He asked what they were talking about they were ashamed that the preoccupation of their thoughts and conversation were around who was greatest.   Fear and shame kept them from moving closer to Jesus. Jesus knew and loved them still.   Why do our minds so often go to greatness? Who’s best? There’s an irresistible urge to rank according to achievement and ability. We have an acronym for it. He’s the GOAT…the Greatest Of All Time. And it’s human nature to believe that being close to greatness makes us great by association.   But Jesus is talking about the path to greatness and glory and they don’t understand, they are afraid to know what He means. Greatness in the kingdom comes through service and sacrifice. The disciples didn’t want to hear it. And so often, neither do we.    Take a moment to reflect today. What would change if you really believed that greatness comes through humility? Through service? And sacrifice?   Let’s pray.   Lord, help.   Help me to see. Help me to hear. Only You can.   Help me to ask questions. Honest questions.   Help me to open my life up to You.   Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.   Is there anywhere I’m holding you at arm’s length because you’ll challenge my idea of the way things should be?   I know You want to show me because You love me, and You want what’s best for me.   If I’m honest, being last feels like dying.   Help me to remember that if I die with You, I will rise with You.   And there is no earthly loss that compares to the glory that you have store for me.   Hear the Word of the LORD:   PSALM 131    O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;  my eyes are not raised too high;  I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.  But I have ca

    9 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

Over 16 weeks, we’ll explore each chapter in Mark.  Starting January 5, we’ll release a guided prayer podcast every Monday morning to help you pray through the chapters.

Information

  • Creator
    Jeff
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Guided Prayer Podcast